Edwar Osnel de la Cruz Colina Orozco (pronounced coh-LEE-nah)...Instagram: @edwar.co... born in Caracas, Venezuela and resides in Guarenas, east of the capital...learned English with the help of Dutch-born former teammate Taylor Clemensia...played for the Navegantes del Magallanes in the Liga Venezuela Beísbol in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 offseasons, going 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA (6.0 IP, 2 ER) in eight relief appearances.
2020
Began season in Twins Player Pool at alternate training site in St. Paul...Contract selected September 25 and made major league debut that night vs. Cincinnati, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and a home run (Moustakas) in 0.1 inning pitched...first player or coach in club history to wear uniform number 86...Optioned September 26...Ranked Twins number 15 prospect by MLB.com...also ranked as having the best slider in Twins system by Baseball America.
2019
Divided the year between Single-A Ft. Myers (10 games/starts), Double-A Pensacola (7 games/4 starts) and Triple-A Rochester (2 games)...went a career-best 8-2 with a 2.96 ERA (97.1 IP, 32 ER) in 19 games (14 starts), with 102 strikeouts, 32 walks and a .229 opp. batting average...Struck out 100+ batters for the second consecutive season...his 264 strikeouts since the start of 2017 are fourth most among Twins minor league pitchers in that span, behind Lewis Thorpe (367), Sean Poppen (352) and Bryan Sammons (298)...Opened the season on the 7-day Injured List with a back strain...made his season debut on May 6 and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts in 6.0 innings on May 14, in his second start of the campaign...Allowed one hit over a career-high-tying 8.0 innings on July 3, facing one batter over the minimum while striking out nine and walking one... earned the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week award for his effort, his first career minor league weekly honor...Promoted to Double-A Pensacola on July 11...tied his career high with 10 strikeouts over 7.0 innings on July 25 (3 H, 1 UER, 1 BB)...held opponents to a .194 batting average in 31.0 innings for the Blue Wahoos...Transferred to Triple-A Rochester on August 24, appearing in relief twice for the Red Wings before returning to Double A to end the year.
2018
Spent most of the year with Single-A Cedar Rapids, before earning a late-season promotion to Single-A Ft. Myers...compiled a 7-5 record and 2.63 ERA (109.1 IP, 32 ER) in 21 games (20 starts) across the two levels...his ERA ranked fourth in the organization (min. 60.0 IP), while his career-high 106 strikeouts tied for 10th most...2.48 ERA (98.0 IP, 27 ER) in Cedar Rapids was second best among Midwest League starters...on May 1, tossed the first 6.0 innings of a combined no-hitter for the Kernels, walking five and striking out two...named Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Week for the period of August 5-11...did not allow an earned run in 8.0 innings vs. Beloit in his one start that week, striking out eight batters while walking none...fanned 10 batters in back-to-back starts Aug. 13-19, his first career double-digit strikeout games.
2017
Spent the entire season with Rookie Elizabethton, appearing in 12 games (11 starts) for the E-Twins...finished the season with the fourth best ERA (3.34) and WHIP (1.30) in the Appalachian League, as well as the lowest opponent batting average (.219) and fourth fewest walks (29)... named an Appy League Postseason All-Star...on September 6, earned the win in Game 3 of the Appy League semifinals to send the E-Twins to the championship...tossed 6.2 shutout innings, allowing three hits and three walks, with three strikeouts.
2016
Made his professional debut with the DSL Twins, working a scoreless inning on June 6 vs. DSL Orioles...struck out five batters over 4.0 innings (1 H, 3 R/1 ER) in his first pro start on June 9...earned his first win on July 2, holding the DSL Dbacks to one unearned run in 7.0 innings, with one walk and eight strikeouts...held opposing offenses to two runs or fewer in 12 of his 14 appearances.